Twin lift-desk dolly



Nov. 8, 1960 A. w. ROSENOW TWIN LIFT-DESK DOLLY Filed Aug. 25. 1958 INVENTOR. ALFRED W. ROSENOW? United States Patent 1 TWIN, LIFT-DESK DOLLY I Alfred W. Rosenow, 316 Ridgewood Ave., Orlando, Fla. Filed Aug, 25, 1958, Ser. No. 156,915 2 Claims. 01. 214-512 This invention relates to moving apparatus and, more particularly, to a device for moving furniture.

Ordinarily, desks and similar furniture are substantially heavy and diflicult to manually move from one location to another. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an extremely simple and efficient dolly for transporting various types of oflice furniture from one location to another that is readily operated by a single individual, requires a minimum amount of effort, and which will allow such furniture to be moved through narrow spaces without damage or inconvenience.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a twin lift desk dolly that has self contained link and lever means for raising an article of furniture vertically above the floor and for transporting such article of furniture without manual effort or strain.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a furniture dolly of the type described which may be used as a twin or a single unit and which can be manufactured in large quantities at a relatively low cost.

All of the foregoing and still further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a desk dolly assembly made in accordance with the present invention in operative use as a twin unit, in a lowered position;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the assembly shown in Figure 1 in an elevated position; and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of certain operating parts of the present invention, while Figure 4 is a section as taken on line 44 in Figure 1.

Referring now more in detail to the drawing, a twin dolly assembly made in accordance with the present invention is shown to include a pair of individual dolly units of substantially identical construction releasably connected together for use as a single unit in transporting a desk 11 illustrated in broken lines.

Each such dolly 10 includes an underframe having a pair of spaced apart channel members 12 secured in spaced apart parallel relationship by means of gusset plates 14 that extend therebetween. A load carrying member also constructed from a pair of spaced apart parallel channel members 20 secured together by means of a longitudinal plate 22, overlaid by a coextensive top plate 45, is supported by means of link plates 18 for selective movement between a lowered and elevated position. Each one of the longitudinally spaced apart link plates 18 is pivotally supported, by means of a pivot shaft 16 at its lower end upon the underframe channel members 12 and similarly pivotally supports the load carrying member by means of similar pivot shafts 24 extending between the channel members 20 at the opposite end of the link plates 18. The underframe is supported upon a plurality of caster wheels 15, one pair of such wheels being disposed at each longitudinal end of the unit.

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A bracket 28 secured to the forward one of the gusset plates 14 carries a'pivot shaft 26 that rotatably supports a latch bar 30 having a latchhook 32 at one end. This latch book 32 is releasably received within an aperture 34 in the forward one of the link plates 18, as shown in Figure 2 of the drawing, to retain the link plates and load supporting member in the elevated position. A compression spring 31 acting between the opposite end of each latch bar 30 normally urges the latch hook 32 toward latching engagement within the aperture 34. However, in response to a downward movement upon the outer end of the latch bar 30, the elements may be disengaged to enable the carrying member to descend to the lowered position illustrated in Figure 1.

Mechanical advantage means are provided for raising the load supporting members with a minimum amount of effort. A lever bar 36 having a bifurcation 38 at one end slidably receiving the pivot shaft 26 includes a bail member 40 intermediate its ends that is releasably engageable with a hook member 42 at the forward end of the load carrying member. Thus, with the lever bar 36 in the position illustrated in Figure 1, the bail 40 may be engaged with the book 42, whereupon rotation of the lever bar 36 is operative to effect rotation of the link plates 18 to raise the load carrying member to the elevated position shown in Figure 2. When in the fully raised position, the latch hook 32 of the latch bar 30 will engage within the aperture 34 within the link plate 18 to secure the load carrying member in the elevated position.

When used as a twin unit, cross plates 44 may be placed upon the upper surfaces 45, 45 of the load carrying members when a pair of such dollies are placed in spaced apart relationship in the manner shown in Figure 1. In this arrangement, both dollies function as a single unit for carrying heavy loads and bulky equipment. The two units may be separably held together, as indicated in Figures 1 and 4, by means of more or less conventional headed pins or studs 46, 46 extending down through top plates 45, 45 through holes 48, the studs being recessed at 47, if desired, so that merely lifting off the cross plates 44 with their recessed depending studs 46 will leave the plates and their units separated. Any other conventional means may be used for connecting the cross plates to the units and allowing these cross plates to be separated from top plates 45, 45, and thus from these units, at will.

While this invention has been described with particular reference to the construction shown in the drawing, it is to be understood that such is not to be construed as imparting limitations upon the invention, which is best defined by the claims appended hereto.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A dolly assembly including the combination of two substantially similar dollies disposed in parallel, a pair of transverse connecting members supported upon the dollies and spaced a distance apart thereon with said dollies disposed in mutual spaced apart relation at substantially the same level, means serving to releasably connect the connecting members to the dollies beneath them to provide for simultaneous movement of both dollies as a unit, each dolly comprising an underframe having a plurality of casters for supporting the frame upon a supporting surface, a load carrying member located above the underframe, plural link means supporting the load carrying member upon said underframe a1- lowing movement of said load carrying member from an elevated position to a lowered position and vice versa upon said underframe selectively, lever means mounted upon the latter frame and effective to actuate the linkv means to effect the movement of the load carrying member at will, latch means for retaining said load carrying member releasably in its elevated position, said underframe comprising a lower pair of channel members with gusset plates securing the latter together in spaced apart parallel relationship, and said load carrying member comprising an upper pair of rigid channel members. with a rigid plate overlying and interconnecting. saidi upper'peii of channel members together in spacedapart parallel relationship.

2. A dolly assembly according to claim I, wherein the link means includes a pair of longitudinally spaced apart link plates pivotally connected at one end of each tothe underframe and. at the other end of each to the load carrying member, and wherein the latch means includes a bar pivotally supported upon the underframe with a latch member formed at one end thereof, one of the link plates having an aperture releasably receiving the latch member, and a resilient spring member yieldably biassing said bar toward a latched position in order to prevent rotation of said link plate and said load carrying member toward the lowered position thereof.

References (Zited' in the file of this-patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,224,166 Stuebing Dec. 10, 1940 

